Todd Barry

For most stand-ups, crowd work is a segue tool rather than their predominant style. Crowd work (an off-the-cuff remark made directly to and about audience members) addresses the real-life audience between carefully constructed bits and gives any performance that special “you had to be there” feeling. Comedian Todd Barry plans on doing something a little bit different. For his latest show, the veteran alternative comic is doing exclusively crowd work. Even for those familiar with the 50-year-old’s successful past albums (2001’s Medium Energy, 2004’s Falling off the Bone and, most recently, 2012’s Super Crazy), this tour has a decidedly different flavor. In an interview with Time, Barry explained the ideal situation for working a crowd: “It’s not just taking cheap shots at people, but coming up with smart, surprising responses.”

Current comedy superstar Louis CK produced a combination special-tour documentary on Barry’s first seven-city “Crowd Work” Tour. “This is the first [special] he bankrolled, so I owe him money,” Barry joked dryly to Time. Fans can buy the film off CK’s website for only $5.